More girls than boys smoke and drink, say gardaí

GIRLS smoke and drink more than boys and are only slightly less likely to use drugs, according to research for the gardaí.

The survey of more than 3,000 second year and fifth year students in the Waterford/Kilkenny and Kerry garda divisions showed one-quarter of females smoke at least once a week, compared to 22% of male students.

When asked if they had been drunk in the last month, 34% of girls and 31% of boys said they had, according to the Garda Research Unit study.